Friday Five: Annoying Holiday Edition

Will Smama over at Revgals writes: Please tell us your least favorite/most annoying seasonal...

1) dessert/cookie/family food
I've got to go with fruitcake. PeeWee Herman had the right idea when he used all the fruitcakes he received to build a new wing of his playhouse. (Fruitcakes are basically inedible, so why not use them as building blocks?!)

2) beverage (seasonal beer, eggnog w/ way too much egg and not enough nog, etc...)
I'd say it's a tie between "Tom and Jerry's" (which just make me queasy) and Egg Nog Shakes (what a perfectly good waste of ice cream!)

3) tradition (church, family, other)
Our town has an annual Christmas parade which would be a nice tradition except for the fact that too many entries are logging trucks and cement mixers with little or no Christmas decoration on them. (If you are going to use the Christmas parade to advertise, at least try to disguise your motives a bit by putting some effort into decorating your entry!)

4) decoration
Nothing says "tacky" to me more than Santa kneeling at the manger. (Sorry if I've offended anyone who likes these!)

5) gift (received or given)
In 5th grade our class exchanged names for presents. I got somebody a nice board game, and I got a waaaaay-too-small pair of slippers. They barely fit on my big toe. I'm obviously still bitter.

BONUS: SONG/CD that makes you want to tell the elves where to stick it.
I'm going to have to go with "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys. (A drag-racing Santa? Puh-leease. )

Here's a sampling of the inane lyrics:

Just a little bobsled, we call it Old Saint Nick
But she'll walk a tobogan with a four speed stick
She's candy apple red with a ski for a wheel
And when Santa hits the gas, man, just watch her peel.

Wow, to balance this post, at some point I'll have to blog about my favorite seasonal things!

dancing with the (blogging) stars...

Click here if you want to see Presbyterian Gal and me spreading a little holiday cheer.

The big question: Are we good dancers?
The bigger question: Will Presbyterian Gal be ok with me "borrowing" her picture?

thanksgiving break draws to a close...

Later today I will drive Offsprings #1 and #2 (along with Offspring #2's GF and marie's SBC) up to Seattle where they will catch a shuttle bus the rest of the way back to college. We'll try to allow plenty of time for traffic, but that is soooo tough to gauge. It's been a nice break. We had a good Thanksgiving, went to a cute movie, put up some Christmas decorations, drove to Portland for a little shopping, etc.

While waiting for lunch at the Macaroni Grill in Portland yesterday, Offspring #1 quickly rendered this little scene to kick off the season, using the 'drawing paper' tablecloth and crayons provided at the table. (She only had 4 available crayons which begs the question: What masterpiece could she have created with an entire box at her disposal???) I think all restaurants should allow you to color on their tables and unleash your creative potential. (Hmmm... now that I'm thinking about it, wouldn't it have been interesting to do lunch at the Macaroni Grill with, say, Magritte or O'Keeffe?)

for the love of pie

The First Annual Pilgrim and Native American Pie Sharing turned out well! We dressed silly, acted silly, and ate lots of pie. I reallllly wasn't going to post a picture, but since Presbyterian Gal asked...



my family = Native Americans (even my mom got into the act!)
marie's family = Pilgrims (notice they all carried Bibles like good Pilgrims!)

Yep, we're doing it again next year.

thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Blogging Pals! I am enjoying a cup of coffee and doing this quick post before the kitchen frenzy begins. (It's always such drama in my kitchen since I am the antithesis of Martha Stewart.) Offsprings #1 and #2 are both home so my nest is happily full.

Dinner will be around 1:00 (with "around" being the key word -- see reference to "kitchen frenzy" and "drama" above). Then, instead of having dessert right after dinner as we usually do, we will prepare for the First Annual Pilgrim and Native American Pie Sharing which will happen at 4:00. To help commemorate the original Thanksgiving (er... make that because we are silly), my family (dressed as Native Americans) will get together with marie's family (dressed as Pilgrims) and eat pie together. We've all worked hard (ok, not that hard) on our costumes, and I'm thinking this should be a fun, new twist to our Thanksgiving celebration.

Well, I better go check on my turkey -- Can I get it fully thawed in time?? The drama begins...

weekend update

OK, so this picture is a TOTAL exaggeration, but we did have some major car trouble this weekend. We drove up to Bellingham to see Offsprings #1 and #2. (Offspring #1 was in a play about the lead-up to the Iraq war called "Stuff Happens", and she turned in another fine performance!) While in Bellingham the transmission on our Honda Odyssey van decided to go kerflooey. (I believe that is the proper technical term.) We managed to get it into the Honda dealership there about an hour before closing on Friday, which was just enough time to learn some bad news and some good news. The bad news: the transmission needs to be replaced. The good news: Honda is going to pay 100%.

With our van needing to stay up in Bellingham for repairs, Hubby and I decided to take Amtrak home today. (In a couple of weeks, Offspring #2 has a jazz band concert so we'll get to do the van-train thing in reverse.) Anyway, I've been wanting to try Amtrak for some time, so that actually worked out great! I liked being able to read, get a snack, etc. I especially enjoyed the scenery from the train window...

OK, so this picture is also a TOTAL exaggeration (one might even say fabrication) because there weren't any orcas. Nope, not one. But Puget Sound was still pretty without them...

'toon of the day

I find good stuff while mindlessly googling...

this is kind of cool...

I just read where Giovanni Maria Pala, an Italian musician, claims to have undercovered a "soundtrack" in Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper". Pala placed the five lines of a musical staff across the famous painting and had the loaves of bread and hands of Jesus and the Apostles represent musical notes. The result, when the notes are read right to left, sounds like a requiem. Full story here. Of course I don't know if this is true or not, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility. Da Vinci was certainly one sharp cookie.

Hmmm... perhaps we should search other famous paintings for clues of hidden soundtracks. Maybe, for example, we could find out what Whistler's mother was whistling. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

10 random things

I was tagged by Mags for 10 random things. So here goes!

1. My favorite way to exercise is to ride my bike, because it allows me to sit on my keester while doing so.

2. In high school, I was able to walk on my hands. I haven't attempted this in a l-o-n-g time.

3. My first car was a buttercup yellow '67 Camaro, which I sold when we moved from Colorado to Washington.

4. I love using the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope to check for retinal holes and tears, but since it is worn on the head it makes me have bad hair days.

5. I am currently reading Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes. It's pretty darn good.

6. I believe creamed peas should be illegal. I cannot emphasize this enough.

7. I am sorry that Stephen Colbert dropped out of the presidential race. He had a good shot at my vote.

8. I skiied Big Sky Resort Montana the first month it was open (Dec '73) with some high school friends. We wore jeans instead of ski pants and got very, very cold. I drove the yellow Camaro to get there.

9. I have never taken Amtrak but think it would be fun to go on a train trip.

10. Unfortunately my last experience with church can be summed up this way. But I'm open to possibility.

I'm not sure who has been tagged... But how 'bout Presbyterian Gal, mompriest, Jiff, and HotCup ??

yep, another hike

Yesterday, The Empty Nest Hiking Club (that would be Hubby and me) went on another hike -- this one to Lewis River Falls near Mt St Helens. It was a 7 mile hike, so to borrow a phrase from one of the Joads (I think) in The Grapes of Wrath, "my dogs were tired" at the end of the day. (OK, they really weren't all that tired because it was easy terrain, but I like that expression...) Also, Hubby fell on the slippery rocks at one point and tweaked his shoulder. However, it really was a beautiful day and very nice hike. The trail goes through Douglas fir woods and there are three lovely waterfalls along the way. Pictured here are the Lower Falls at the very beginning of the hike. On the way home we drove by this great view of Mt St Helens so I had to get out and snap a picture.

If you want to see the photo slide show of yesterday's hike at youtube, click here. (I'd suggest using the small screen option -- it's more clear.) If you have had your fill of The Empty Nest Hiking Club, do not click on the link.

27 years ago today...

Yep, Hubby and I were married Nov 1, 1980. So in honor of that, I've thrown together a little video (a minute and a half!) featuring a sampling of pics taken a few years before and after that fateful day...

(Hope you don't need insulin...)